The Wimbledon draw has now been blown wide open after Matteo Berrettini was forced to join Marin Cilic in withdrawing from the major with Covid. "I am heartbroken to announce that I need to withdraw from @wimbledon due to a positive COVID-19 test result," he wrote on Instagram.
"I have had flu symptoms and been isolating the last few days. Despite symptoms not being severe, I decided it was important to take another test this morning to protect the health and safety of my fellow competitors and everyone else involved in the tournament.
"I have no words to describe the extreme disappointed I feel. The dream is over for this year, but I will be back stronger. Thank you for the support."
Berrettini had only made his comeback from injury at the Stuttgart Open and went on to win the grasscourt title, beating Andy Murray in the final. And the Italian tennis ace followed that up with a terrific run at Queen's to defend his title from 2021.
That kind of form - coupled with his run to the Wimbledon final last year - made him one of the pre-tournament favourites. Berrettini was placed in the same half of the draw as Rafael Nadal and was set to face him in the semi-final.
But his withdrawal now opens the draw for the Spaniard while Stefanos Tsitsipas also now has a strong chance to go deep in the tournament.
Tsitsipas enters Wimbledon as the No 4 seed but he's only once gone past the first round in his previous four appearances at SW19. The Greek tennis star has won both matches he's faced against Berrettini, but neither were on grass.
Tsitsipas does head into Wimbledon on good form though having won his first grasscourt title at the Mallorca Championships last week.